Starting Over
by Sessyruby
Summary: Naruto never had the best start as a ninja, but what if he could ensure he did himself? Watch as a smarter, more focused and above all more controlled Naruto takes the stage. Time travel fic. No pairings as I suck at romance.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi all, this is my very first fanfiction so please be nice. This story came about as a combination of reading way too much Naruto fanfiction and some ideas I had based around the show and manga. Particularly how focused and balanced as a person Naruto becomes later in life. So enjoy.**

Prologue

...

In hindsight Naruto realised that his main problem throughout his life was control. Primarily chakra control.

Born as an Uzumaki, Naruto naturally had an abnormally high chakra reserve, chakra being the combination of physical and mental energy. In addition to this Naruto also had the unfortunate fate of becoming a jinchuuriki moments after his birth. Being the last Uzumaki, and as only an Uzumaki could hold the massive force of chakra that is the nine tailed fox, there was little choice but to seal the beast within him. Which resulted in Naruto gaining the not inconsiderable chakra reserves of a biju on top of his already large natural reserves.

If that wasn't enough the nature of the seal placed upon him also contributed to his fundamental difficulty in control. As the seal itself used Naruto's chakra to process and filter the chakra of the fox throughout the day, only to pump the purified charkra back into Naruto each morning as the sun rose. Meaning that any control he gained was compromised as his reserves grew day by day. As such, where other shinobi's chakra flowed throughout their bodies in a steady stream, Naruto's chakra was always in a state of flux.

The defining principle of chakra control means that as chakra is used, not only control is gained but the chakra reserves themselves grow as the mind and body become more harmonised. Unfortunately for Naruto his body was always out of balance with the enormity of his chakra reserves as you would expect if you had a toddler with the power of a chunin. The result of this was that by the time Naruto was twelve his reserves rivaled a Kage's but his control was almost non-existant.

Uzumaki children, due to their naturally higher than average reserves, traditionally started chakra training as soon as they were potty trained to make sure that their minds and bodies developed as one. Being the last of the Uzumakis meant there was no-one to carry on this tradition with Naruto and so when he finally learnt the basics of control in the academy with the other children, he was drastically out of his depth. Where most his fellow academy student's chakra trickled through their systems, Naruto's chakra gushed, spilling out and around him forming an invisible chakra cloud.

When Naruto was eight his chakra reserves were so vast that his chakra signature blanketed much of the village, as such to most of the chakra sensors living within the village Naruto was background noise. Incidentally this was the secret to how Naruto managed to escape from Jonin and Anbu after completing his pranks. To most sensors it was like trying to find an open tap at the bottom of a lake. Despite popular belief, even Iruka-sensei could not sense Naruto, the reason he could always find Naruto when others could not was due to his own history as a prankster. Iruka would simply trace the chase through the village then head to the nearest relatively safe hiding spot and there Naruto would be.

Later in life, this chakra cloud would become as even greater asset as no-one could pinpoint his location through his chakra unless he was using it. Where other shinobi hid their presence by making their reserves as small as possible, Naruto simply blanketed the whole region. Due to his underwhelming physical appearance, enemy shinobi assumed the chakra cloud to be a product of the Jonin or Sannin that accompanied him whenever he left the village and so he remained largely underestimated for much of his life.

Having large chakra reserves by itself is no great problem as it increases stamina, fighting power and accelerates healing exponentially, however without control it could also have a really detrimental effect upon the mental and physical development of a young person, especially if the body itself is neglected.

Because of his status as a Jinchiriki, Naruto did not receive the best upbringing. Sure he received the basics of survival, but that was all he received. As such his mind and body did not develop in balance with his chakra growth. Chakra need an outlet, it can not simply disipate as it wants to be used. Some of his chakra went to the fox to replenish that lost in the sealing process, and some went to maintaining his own body as his healing factor tried to counterbalance the effects of malnutrition. But that still left a large amount of chakra constantly circulating through Naruto's small body.

This excess chakra manifested in hyperactive behaviour and an overloaded thinking process. As a result of this by the age of six it was physically impossible for Naruto the stay still, when forced to try as a punishment for bad behaviour he would actually vibrate with supressed energy. His mind, much like his body, was also in a state of constant motion flitting from one thought to the next, so that his attention span ended up as that of a goldfish. It was only when his mind and body worked as one that he could focus and only then by repeating the same action to exhaustion, which explains his love of training as it not only fulfilled a physical need but allowed his mind to rest. As such the academy was possibly the worst learning environment for Naruto as he was a kinetic learner and the stagnant environment of the academy caused his development to atrophy.

It was only when he learnt the shadow clone technique that Naruto's development as a ninja could finally begin as splitting his chakra amongst the clones balanced out his energies and allowed his mind to slow down enough that he could retain knowledge. Naruto never noticed the memory transference that was a by product of the shadow clone jutsu, not from any lack of real intelligence but simply as an indication of the normal state of Naruto's mind. The hyperactive nature of Naruto's thinking process meant that he often thought multiple thoughts all at once as his chakra enhanced mind was in an almost constant overload of information as he examined each idea from multiple angles.

A by-product of this meant that Naruto was incapable of sustained anger, as he could see all points of view at once, but it also meant that he found it difficult to focus as his mind constantly went off on tangents of stray thought. But in situations of survival, when adrenaline coursed through his veins, it was this ability to absorb vast amounts of data all as once that resulted in his often startlingly ingenious plans, especially after he could split the responsibility of response to stimuli amongst his shadow clones. Unfortunately as Naruto's chakra induced hyperactivity was present almost from the time he learnt to walk, no-one in the village noticed why he acted like he did and so it wasn't until Naruto's training journey with Jiraiya and the constant chakra control exercises and usage that this entailed that Naruto's true personality and potential could be realised as his mind and body finally became somewhat balanced.

Learning the Rasengan was perhaps the best thing that could have happened for Naruto's development as a ninja. The chakra heavy technique not only used up a large quantity of the excess chakra circulating through his body, but the very nature of the technique as a highly advanced chakra control technique was possibly the only control technique that could have made a dent in his vast reserves, as it dealt with the physical manipulation of chakra energy. This technique in conjunction with the shadow clone technique gave Naruto the relative control of an academy student and finally allowed Naruto to show the serious and focused shinobi he was always capable of becoming.

Yes, Naruto's main problem growing up was chakra control. Perhaps now that he found himself inexplicably five years old again he might finally be able to achieve it.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello again, thank you for the very encouraging reviews, I will try not to disappoint. Thank you also for the honorific and spelling tips, they are greatly appreciated. As I work full time I will be updating fortnightly from now on, just so you know.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.

'thinking'

"speaking"

_jutsu_

**demon speak**

Chapter 1.

...

It took almost two months for Naruto to fully accept the situation he found himself in. At first he thought himself to be the victim of an elaborate genjutsu, as the last thing he remembered was fighting against Madara alongside Kakashi-sensei. The next thing he knew he was awakening to his old room at the orphanage unable to access his chakra or mindscape and stuck in a body weak from lack of food and exercise.

Only after he had tried to use pain, his only resort, a number of times to break the genjutsu with no result and a fair amount of time had passed with no change, did Naruto finally accept that he had somehow regressed to his five year old existence. He knew he was five as he recognised one of the orphans playing in the yard below his window as a girl who had entered the orphanage soon after his fifth birthday on the death of her grandmother, her only surviving relative.

Finding himself in such a weak and vulnerable body almost drove Naruto to despair as the feeling of helplessness almost overwhelmed him. Until one night when he dreamt of the three most influential teachers of his life standing around his bed, silently telling him to get not give up but to keep moving. It was then that he realised that if he was in fact in the past then he had a chance. A chance to save these men, his jiji the Hokage, his master Jiraiya and his team leader Kakashi lost just moments before he himself was hit. At this point in time they still lived and the future was salvageable.

"This time I will be better, I will be stronger," vowed Naruto to himself, "This time I will protect everyone, believe it!"

...

The orphanage Naruto spent the first six years of his life in was typical of a village recovering from near annihilation. The necessities for survival were provided but in short supply. The Sandaime realised after the third attempt on Naruto's young life, that the people were not quite rational directly after the attack of the nine tailed fox, and being an intelligent if misguided man, that the care of one Naruto Uzumaki would have to be spelled out for it to occur.

Thus he created his famous law to protect Naruto from the hatred of his peers and also the Orphan's Act in which the basic standard of care for orphans was stipulated. The care takers made sure to carry out the letter of the law, in fear of the repercussions if they did not, but only the letter of the law.

As stated in the act orphans were to receive three meals a day though the size of the portions was not stipulated, and so Naruto received three meals a day. It was not the the carers' fault that the standard serving was so small and that there was never enough for Naruto to receive seconds, Naruto being the last alphabetically to be served.

The act stated that orphans were to be washed daily, and so Naruto received his bath with the other orphans. It was not the fault of the carers that after forty children were washed that the bath water would be only luke warm at best when he did so.

As stated in the act orphans were to be housed in clean rooms with at least one blanket each, and so Naruto slept in a clean room each night. It was not the fault of the carers that due to overcrowding in the dorms, Naruto was consigned to a disused supply room. Nor was it the carers' fault that the blankets were thin with only enough for all the children, bar Naruto, to receive two each.

Thus Naruto's experience at the orphanage was that of unrelenting loneliness, hunger and cold. He received enough of the basics to survive but not to thrive.

As he was left alone for much of the time, Naruto took twice as long as the other orphans to learn to talk and quickly fell behind in the group reading lessons as no one would answer his questions. This severely retarded his development the first time around but now with his new knowledge, this negligence became a blessing as no one would notice what he did in the privacy of his room.

...

'First things first,' he thought to himself, 'I need to meditate. There's not much I can do to improve my body just yet until I can access some more food. But as Jiraiya once said, chakra is a combination of mind and physical power, so if I improve my mind to should help to balance my system and let me access my chakra.'

Naruto had forgotten how much easier it was to think at this age. Most of his chakra was tied up with the still recovering fox and with countering the effects of malnutrition on his body, and so the hyperactive thought processes of his latter life were yet to develop.

The first time around Naruto was too busy feeling miserable to notice but his senses were truly amazing. He could hear the Matron down in the kitchen, two floors below; he could clearly see the treetops outside the village wall over five kilometres away and could literally smell the emotions of those around him.

Naruto had always had great senses; either because of his large chakra reserves or because of the fox's presence, but over time had unconsciously blocked them out. Much like a person living beside a train track would over time not even hear the train, Naruto's senses were greatly reduced through disuse and lack of training. Only through constant training, like that received by the Inuzukas, would such senses be usable later in life, training that Naruto never received.

On their three year training trip, Jiraiya had attempted to retrain Naruto to use his enhanced senses to some degree. 'I had no idea how much I had lost,' thought Naruto as he stared out the window revelling in his ability to see so far and hear so much. 'Thank goodness I remember the training techniques Ero-sannin taught me for retaining my senses. '

Turning away from the window at last Naruto settled himself on the floor at the end of his bed with his legs folded. He laid his hands on his knees, palms up and closed his eyes. Breathing deeply Naruto reached deep inside himself with his mind searching for the wellspring of power residing just behind his navel.

Naruto breathed out as he traced the swirling vortex, mentally following its pathway through his body's chakra network. This was the simplest and most calming of all chakra exercises as the mind is soothed by the gentle flow of energy. Fire monks often used this exercise to clear their minds upon awakening and indeed it was they that taught it to Naruto.

Naruto breathed in and out gently soothed by the feeling of peace that flowed through his mind. 'Six months of this and I should be ready for the next exercise,' he thought, 'There's no need to rush as not much will be happening for a while and my body is not developed enough yet for much else. I need to be ready in a year's time though. I'll need to build up as much strength as I can to survive when I'm thrown out.'

On the night of Naruto's sixth birthday a mob of drunken villagers had attacked the orphanage the first time around. For the first few years of Naruto's life his location had been kept secret and it was thought by most villagers that he had been secluded away from Konoha. But on the night of sixth Remembrance Festival, a tipsy orphanage worker has let his location slip whilst drinking in a local bar.

The resulting mob was quickly turned away by anbu but not before they had set fire to the orphanage's front gate. The Matron of the orphanage was justifiably upset but unprofessionally took it out on Naruto, whose increasingly hyperactive behaviour had made him more difficult to control.

Naruto had found himself thrown out through the orphanages back gate the next morning with little more that the clothes on his back. Luckily the weather had been mild enough that sleeping outside had been no real hardship, but the fear of being so vulnerable and the constant hunger had almost broken him. Until he had miraculously happened upon the ramen stand of Teuchi Ichiraku and his daughter, who had brought his plight to the attention of the Hokage, resulting in Naruto receiving his own apartment and monthly orphan stripend on which to survive.

'It will be different this time, I will be ready.'


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: hi all, and thanks very much for reading. I have gone over the previous chapters and made some changes. Very minor though, just to help the flow of the story (hopefully).**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.

'thinking'

"speaking"

_jutsu_

**demon speak**

Chapter 2.

...

"_A Ninja must do what they can in the time that they have_." This was the lesson Naruto learnt on his very first c-rank mission. Unlike in wave where they had only a matter of days to train before the return of Zabuza, Naruto had literally years in which to improve himself before anything of significance was to occur. Though he had plenty of time, the body in which he found himself seriously inhibited what he could do.

For the last five years Naruto's existence in the orphanage was largely sedentary in nature. A typical day for Naruto began at dawn when he awoke thanks to his natural morning chakra surge. It was not until heavy training chakra of his teenage years that he was able to sleep in. He would then spend the morning huddled by his window, staring over the orphanage wall, watching as Konoha awoke. At nine every morning he was finally let out of his room by a caretaker.

Naruto would wash after all the other children in the then cold water, then head into the eating hall where he was served firsts. Firsts consisted of one rice ball and a cup of miso soup. The children would then line up for seconds, consisting of another rice ball, a small grilled fish and another larger cup of miso soup. Though Naruto always joined the line for seconds, there was never enough for him.

After breakfast the children had lessons on how to read and write and look after themselves, which all orphans were required to receive by law. Naruto was ignored more often than not, during these lessons and left alone to learn as he could. The first time around Naruto had managed to pick up some of these skills but it was not until his travels with Jiraiya, when he was required to help edit the "great works of literature" that he managed to acquire what most would call a functional level of literacy.

Lunch was served after lessons, once again small servings in two rounds. Then the children would be released out into the yard for their hour of mandatory outside play time as stipulated in the Orphans Act. The other children were allowed to play until dinner time but Naruto would invariably be punished after the first hour was up usually for trying to approach the other children to play or on one memorable occasion simply for breathing.

Naruto would then be locked in his room for the rest of the evening. The only interruption to this time would be when his dinner was delivered, consisting of a rice ball, a small vegetable croquet and another cup of miso soup.

Naruto resigned himself to a continuation of this routine, as he could see no real way that he could change it in his current powerless state. Instead he used his time to prepare himself as best he could for the trials ahead, by practicing his chakra control exercises and starting to train his body. He wanted to build up his stamina and strength for when he would be out on his own.

Over the last six months Naruto had used the morning hours to meditate. At first only observing his chakra network but then gradually over time he began to exert his will upon it, calling his chakra to concentrate in various parts of his body such as his hands and his feet.

At last he judged that his control was enough to begin the most basic of chakra exercises taught to academy students, the leaf exercise. The idea of this exercise being to hold a leaf upon the forehead with only the force of the student's chakra. Too much chakra and the leaf would be blasted across the room, too little and the leaf would simply fall off.

When Naruto had first attempted this exercise at the academy he could not complete it as his lowest level of possible chakra use at the time would reduce the leaf to dust with each attempt. At the age of five and a half however his reserves were such that he could at last learn this most basic of ninja skills.

Naruto took two months to master holding the leaf upon his forehead, practicing each day when locked in his room. He then learned to hold the leaf on other parts of his body so that he could practice the exercise continuously by hiding leaves beneath his clothes. Within a couple of weeks he constantly had at least ten leaves slowly circling his torso beneath his shirt as he manipulated his chakra to keep the leaves not only in place but also in constant motion.

He made a game of racing the leaves seeing which one he could make circle his body the fastest. This has the advantage of training his mind not only to use chakra but also to multitask. It also helped relieve the relentless boredom he felt during this time.

In the afternoons Naruto would spend time trying to build his body with push ups, sit ups and flexibility exercises. Whilst exercising he would speak aloud exercising his disused throat and facial muscles as it had taken another year originally for him to start speaking in sentences. He would recite passages from _The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja_, which he had memorised during his travels with Jiraiya, or to freak out his carers when he sensed them near he would recite passages from _Icha Icha_ he had learnt whilst editing the series. He was still a prankster at heart after all.

The only problem with this exercise was though his chakra reserves were enough to keep him relatively healthy considering the small amount of food he was given, it was not enough to encourage the growth of muscle and bone strength. For his physical exercises to produce any real benefit he would need more food, and for this he fell back onto his most hidden of skills, his stealth.

Naruto of the "kill me" bright orange suit was not widely known for his stealth. But years of running and hiding from drunks and later Jonin and ANBU had raised his levels of stealth to an amazing degree. When he wanted to Naruto could virtually make himself invisible, such as when he painted the Hokage Mountain in the middle of the day without being caught until it was complete, or when he wanted to spy on Lady Tsunade. It was only when he had received the knowledge that he was after that she was ever able to detect his presence.

No, despite popular opinion, Naruto was very good at remaining undetected and it was this skill that he employed over the next six months to sneak into the kitchens of the orphanage to obtain much needed sustenance. Making sure to always leave no trace of his actions, relocking every lock so that no suspicion could fall upon him. Luckily his clothing was second hand and three sizes too big so no one took notice of any change in his physic.

While he was at it, Naruto also began making preparations for the future. Three months before his sixth birthday be began gathering the supplies he would need to survive on his own and to secret them in a hole he dug beneath a large tree by the orphanages back gate.

Naruto hoped that his improved behaviour and less hyperactive personality might allow him to stay within the orphanage this time around, but the steely glare that he often caught on the Matron's face when she looked at him kept him realistic in his outlook. On the morning after his sixth birthday his fears were realised and once again he was out on his own.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: hi all, as I am aiming for a believably strong Naruto, there will be no forest of death in this chapter. Sorry. Though it would make the perfect place for when he has to re-learn the Rasengan and his elemental affinity. So thanks for the suggestion. :) **** Also as it was a public holiday yesterday, Extra Long Chapter whoot!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.

'thinking'

"speaking"

_jutsu_

**demon speak**

Chapter 3.

...

Naruto remembered this time as a mixture of overwhelming fear and hunger. Having never stepped foot outside of the orphanage walls before, Konoha proved to be a confusing and dangerous place for the relatively sheltered six year old.

Days spent darting from alleyway to alleyway in search of food was bad enough, but the nights without adequate shelter left him particularly vulnerable. Secure sleeping areas were hard to find and if he found himself in the wrong neighbourhood after dark, he often found himself dodging stray dogs and drunken men intent on causing harm.

Naruto knew that if he was to survive he would need to first find a secure base. Years ago, when he was in the academy, he had found an abandoned training field at the far end of the Nara clan estate.

It was on the other side of the village from the public training grounds so safe enough from surprise visits from other shinobi in search of training space, and had obviously lain abandoned for a number of years as it was overgrown and the training posts half rotted. It was disused primarily as the Nara's were far too lazy to walk that far just to train and was too near the Nara deer preserve for too much noise to be tolerated.

Naruto had used it to practice his kunai throwing when he was ejected from the public training areas. For whatever reason, perhaps because they were too lazy or intelligent to give into hate, the Nara shinobi had always been the most tolerant of Naruto's presence growing up. As such Naruto deemed that the training ground of his childhood would make to perfect base in which to live until he was able to make his situation known to the Hokage.

Not only was it on the relatively safe lands of the Nara clan estate, but it also had its own water supply in the form of a small stream and a sheltered area in which he could sleep in the form of a small cave in the base of a hill to the rear of the training grounds.

'Perfect' he thought to himself as he stealthily gathered his supplies from the hole he had dug at the base of a tree at the orphanage's back gate. Over the last two weeks Naruto had managed to gather a thin blanket from the laundry, a kitchen knife, flint and steel for making fire and a small pot from the kitchen. He had waited till just before his birthday so that the items would not be missed in the chaos caused by the festival preparations.

'Not enough for a comfortable existence, but at least this should help me survive the next two months or so.'

He wrapped his supplies up in the blanket and made his way into the village, making sure to stay in the shadows. Naruto had been thrown out in the early hours of the morning so luckily there were not too many people about, but he still wanted to be careful.

'I can gather food from the forest this time at least instead of eating out of trash cans. Thanks to the survival training we received at the academy I know what's safe to eat and what to avoid.' Naruto thought contentedly, 'I shouldn't get too hungry. I can make a fire with my flint and steel and I have a blanket. All in all it shouldn't be too bad and I can even train at the training grounds.'

Naruto slid into an alley and made his way to the other end, being careful of the rubbish piled around him. He waited for the villager's to pass before darting across the road to another alley. He smiled as he noticed the change in the building quality as he made his way into the clan area of the village. The houses here were much older and of better quality, most hidden behind large fenced areas that held whole estates of clan buildings and training areas.

The Nara estates, he was heading towards, were on the edge of the clan area on the opposite side to the Inuzuka clan and beside the Akimichi clan whose farm lands bordered the Nara deer preserve on one side. The Nara, a clan of shadow technique users, kept deer as their main source of income and as such their estate was the largest and backed onto the surrounding forest.

The training field that Naruto was heading towards was in a forgotten corner of the estate, quite far for a six year old to travel each day into the village but at least it was a safe place to sleep at night. 'And it will help me to build up stamina to travel so far each day,' Naruto affirmed to himself.

When Naruto finally arrived at the training ground he was pleased to find it just as he remembered. The grounds comprised of a large natural clearing perhaps twenty-five metres in diameter with a small stream running through one end and a small hill with a naturally formed cave (or perhaps overhand would be a more appropriate word) and the other end. A large circular area had been cleared and compacted in the centre so that no grass could grow in it and to one side of this there were three training posts imbedded into the ground, one of which had come loose and so tilted drunkenly to the side.

Naruto quickly set about setting his new home to rights. Setting his bundle down he unwrapped his thin blanket and shook out the dirt from when it was buried and hung it over a nearby bush to dry any lingering dampness. Grabbing a fallen branch he made his way over to the overhang and proceeded to sweep out the area of any debris, then cleared the space of any rocks.

Using the rocks he made a small fire pit at the front of the overhang to one side then stood up and dusted his hands in satisfaction. Taking the kitchen knife he then made his way down to the small stream and began to gather armfuls of reeds from the stream bank laying then down in the middle of the training area to dry in the sun. He then repeated the process with the tall grasses growing around the edge of the training area.

By this time Naruto was beginning to feel quite peckish and so decided to see what he could forage up as he searched for firewood. Luckily as it was early autumn, the forest was literally bursting with nuts, berries and eatable mushrooms. After gathering enough firewood to last the night Naruto sat himself down in the sun and helped himself to the bounty he had managed to gather.

'If I remember correctly it took quite a while for the old man to hear that I had been thrown out of the orphanage last time, though it might have only felt like a long time because I was so damn scared and hungry all the time,' he mused to himself, 'Either way I'll have to see what I can do to speed up the process as I don't fancy being out here during the winter months even if it is quite pleasant right now.'

After his meal Naruto decided to set up some simple traps to catch game and built a fish trap at one end of the stream knowing that this was the simplest way for him to hunt given his current skill level. By the time he had finished it was late afternoon and time to set up for the night. Gathering the now dry reeds Naruto wove a basic sleeping mat which he then lined with the dry grass toping the whole thing with his blanket folded in half so that he could sleep between the layers.

He then set off to check his traps and forage once again for something to eat. Naruto was in luck, though his traps were empty of any game, he had managed to capture three small fish in his fish trap. Carrying his catch back to camp wrapped in some leaves with the nuts and mushrooms he had also managed to acquire carried in his small pot. Naruto felt quite pleased with himself.

Once back at camp he set about making a fire in his fire pit and making a simple fish and mushroom stew for dinner. Lying contentedly on his bed a few hours later, with a full belly for once in over a year, staring up at the stars, Naruto slid blissfully into a deep sleep.

(Time Skip - one month)

'Waking up to birdsong is quite a nice way to start the day,' Naruto thought contentedly as he stretched in the morning sun just outside his sleeping are. He then headed over to the small stream across the training ground to wash. Naruto had no problem with bathing in the cold water, by the time it was his turn to bath at the orphanage it was often not much warmer than this forest stream after all.

Cold water baths were a norm in Naruto's young life for even when he eventually moved into his apartment the hot water system to his rooms mysteriously broke on the first day and so he had never experienced a hot bath in his youth. He had observed people bathing in hot water at the local public baths but had assumed this to be a luxury reserved for onsens to which he was not welcome to enter. It was not till his first trip outside the village that he had realised that this was not the case.

'I'll have to obtain a couple of large pots to heat water in when I get my apartment,' he thought as he briskly washed his face and chest in the cold, clear water.

He turned bare-chested so that the warm morning sun could dry him and walked to some nearby bushes growing on the edge of the training area that were heavy with ripe berries. If there was ever a best time to be homeless on Konoha it was definitely this time of the year when the forest bushes were ripe and the nights were mild enough that a small fire and a thin blanket were enough to make them comfortable.

"But I still don't want to be out here in a couple of months' time when winter sets in, and if all goes to plan I won't need to." Naruto said to himself as he finished his last berry. Naruto had taken to talking aloud to himself to make sure he still could. After not talking to anyone for over a year he needed to train himself to speak aloud once more and he also had to work through his child like pronunciation as his throat and neck muscles were still week from disuse.

"Right! Time for morning training!" he cheered as he pumped his small fist in the air. Naruto began with some simple stretches before he started to jog around the edge of the training grounds. After completing ten laps he dropped to the ground in the middle of the space and did ten sets of push-ups, sit-ups and leg raises. He then gathered up some small stones from a prearranged pile and threw them at the training posts to begin training his eye and arms for target practice, from various distances and stances for an hour.

This was the training regime Naruto had thought of to help build up his strength and stamina in the first two weeks of his stay in the forest, and was to be completed at least twice a day. Of course it was not as strenuous as his past/future training exercises as it was not as long and did not use weights, but he was only six after all.

Even though Naruto wanted to quickly acquire his apartment once more as it would serve as a safe and secure place to train as he would no longer need to worry about acquiring food or shelter, he did take two weeks to simply be and try and gain as much strength as possible. After awakening that first morning he had realised just how stressed he had been over the past year as he had tried to get stronger all whilst trying not to get noticed and being unable to talk to anyone.

Two weeks of nothing but nature, eating and simple exercise was needed to recharge his mental reserves before he once again was forced to head back into the village.

After finishing his morning physical exercises, Naruto wiped the sweat from his body with his shirt and then settled down with his back against the middle training post to meditate. He closed his eyes and breathed in, taking in the world around him.

He became aware of the trees first, to the breeze ruffling the leaves overhead. Then he became aware of the animals returning to the area after being scared away by his earlier activity. The rabbit to his left at the edge of the field, the birds flying overhead, and the deer further into the forest itself moving along their rambling pathways.

Breathing out he became aware of the life force around him, the Nature chakra present in everything from the animals to the plants, to even the ground beneath him. It was this Nature chakra that he had learnt to utilise in his Sage mode, though he knew it was much too dangerous for him to attempt to manipulate with his underdeveloped six year old chakra network.

Though Naruto never underestimated his abilities it had taken many years for him to realise his own limitations. Through his sage training and his experience at the waterfall of truth he had gained a better understanding of himself, his strengths and his weaknesses. The obnoxious over-confidence of his youth had primarily been a product of his youthful ignorance and an unconscious rejection of the limitations placed upon him by others, and was soon overcome by training and experience.

Naruto breathed in again and turned his focus from the external world to the internal and focused on the warm glow of his own chakra swirling just beneath his skin. After a year of daily chakra meditation Naruto had managed to manipulate his chakra in such a way that it now not only ran smoothly through his chakra network but also constantly saturated his bones, muscles and internal organs, in such a way that it was easily accessible.

He mentally sank down into the glowing energy swirling just beneath his belly button, allowing his mind to become buoyant as it was passively carried throughout his body like a leaf in a stream. His mind flew up along his spine, swirling around his heart and lungs before shooting up into his brain, then flowing down each arm in turn. Then up again and down his sides to his hips and then down each leg, before flowing back into the pool of chakra at his middle.

Once Naruto felt he had a complete grasp of the natural flow of his chakra he slowly began to exert his will upon it. He teased out a tendril of chakra from the main flow and directed it to pool in the palm of his right hand. Bringing his two hands together in a prayer gesture, Naruto began to pass a pulse of chakra between them.

When the flow was stable and a good rhythm had been achieved, Naruto began to slowly separate his hands whilst continuing to toss the chakra pulse from one hand to the next, seeing how far he could separate them before the pulse fizzled out. This physical manifestation of chakra was the product of the last years' worth of chakra meditation. It served as both a chakra control exercise and as a means to expel the excess chakra that already was beginning to build up in his small body.

For twenty minutes Naruto concentrated on tossing his ball of chakra, keeping the flow constant and stable, before he allowed his mind to wander. Manipulating chakra whilst distracted was an important skill for any ninja to learn and practice as it prepared them for armed conflict where a ninja routinely had to do so with much higher levels of chakra and more deadly distractions.

There was just so much that Naruto had to do, though he tried to concentrate only on what he could accomplish right now, he could not help but think of what needed to be accomplished over the coming years. His immediate concern was of course his own survival, him being extremely vulnerable in his current state, only once his housing situation and education was stabilised would Naruto be free to concern himself with the fate of his friends.

'I won't be able to contact Kurama for at least another couple of years, as his chakra system didn't really recover from his sealing until I was eight or so,' mused Naruto, 'Once I gain my apartment I must make sure to visit the old man Hokage as much as possible and try to befriend Sasuke before his family is killed. That shouldn't happen until the first week of the academy so I have a few years at least. But I don't know the exact day it happened and it might be hard to find out.'

Naruto breathed in and his expression became determined as he expelled his chakra pulse into the air and said, "But I will save him. Believe it!"

Standing up Naruto stretched and made ready to head into the village for the day. Over the last two weeks Naruto had made his way through the village, mostly moving through the alleyways, trying to unobtrusively make his presence known. He had scavenged through the village's dumpsters looking for anything useable for his survival and thus hinting at his homeless state.

Konoha had a strict policy against homelessness as it was a security risk. The villagers and shinobi were required to report any such to the proper authorities who would then find housing and gainful employment for the homeless person. There were always jobs in a ninja village such as weapons sharpening or even spare D-ranks, and so no excuse for unemployment which could only lead to temptation from foreign spies.

The reason that Naruto managed to remain homeless for so long last time, was that the villagers knew who he was and enjoyed watching him trying to survive in squalor as it justified their belief that he was just an animal. It also allowed them easy access for when they wanted to release their frustration by throwing rocks and rotten food at him on the pretext of moving him away from their dustbins.

The reason Naruto was unobtrusively making his presence known, was that he was never sure if the Ichiraku's charity had been extended as his homeless status was widely known or if it was because of a momentary whim but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Today, though, his patience should have its reward as it was time to implement his plan and reacquaint himself with his first family, the Ichiraku's, and his first love, Ramen. Naruto's love of ramen was legendary amongst those that knew him and was a product of genetics and the fact that it was the first meal served to him both warm and with genuine kindness.

By moving from alleyway to alleyway, Naruto navigated his way across the village to just behind the Ichiraku ramen stand, which was situated between the main training graounds and the academy. The Ichiraku dumpsters had never been a good source of food as the old man was very careful not to waste supplies and the customers very rarely left anything to be thrown out. But that was no the point of today's raid.

Naruto raised up the lid with a lack of his usual caution, allowing the lid to clang against the back wall of the ramen stand. He leaned half his body into the bin and began to root around as he waited.

"Who's there?" called out the deep, gruff voice of Teuchi Ichiraku from the back doorway. Naruto raised his head and assumed an expression of fright as he looked up to see old man Ichiraku. "What are you doing?" he asked as he walked towards the dumpster.

Naruto jumped back in seeming panic and whimpered, "I meant no harm, I was only looking for something to eat. I'm sorry." He had turned to dash away when a large hand clamped down on his shoulder causing him to flinch and freeze in place.

"No need for that," said the old man kindly taking in Naruto's small size and ragged clothing. "Come inside, I'll make you something better than what can be found in there." Gently turning the small boy to face him.

"But I have no money," disclaimed Naruto.

"No problem," said the old man as he led Naruto through the backdoor. "I've got plenty of bowls in the back in need of a good scrub in exchange." Naruto smiled as he walked inside already anticipating the first slippery mouthful. His first taste of his true love in over a year.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: hi all, Sorry for the late update. I meant to do this yesterday, but started reading fanfiction and there went my weekend. Sigh. Worth it though. :)**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.

'thinking'

"speaking"

_jutsu_

**demon speak**

Chapter 4.

...

The Sandaime smiled wearily as he watch the small, dirty, little boy dressed in rags, excitedly exclaim over his new accommodation. 'Oh Minato how we have failed you' sighed the Hokage silently as he waited for the hyperactive little boy to calm down. It was not a very large or fancy apartment, built as emergency accommodation after the Kyubbi attack, it could best be described as Spartan at and yet its new owner clearly loved it.

'Though small for his age, Naruto is big in personality' mussed the old man fondly as he watched the boy bounce from wall to wall.

They had met in person for the first time the day before, much to his dismay the Hokage had allowed himself to rely on the reports of those trusted with Naruto's care for reports on the boy's development as he had been too busy to make time for him. 'And we all know how well that turned out,' he thought in self-disgust,

The Sandaime had received a message from Teuchi Ichiraku, a ramen vendor and retired ninja he had known for many years, stating that he had someone at his stand that the Hokage had to meet urgently as a matter of village security. The Hokage was justifiably surprised by the fact that this mysterious person was in fact young Naruto, whom he was assured was still living at the East Gate Orphanage

He was outraged to find out that this was not the case and that this young child had been left to live on the streets for the last month scavenging from the village's refuse to survive. The fact that this situation had remained unreported in a ninja village such as Konoha was cause for great concern from the Hokage.

Surprised at first by Naruto's small size he heart had instantly been captured by the boys innocently wary blue eyes, so much like his dear old friends.

"Hey Old Man?" asked Naruto recalling the Hokage to the present, "Are you sure I can have all this to myself?"

"Yes Naruto," chuckled the Hokage patting him on the head, "It's all yours. I will have someone deliver food to you till you're old enough to handle grocery money yourself. Ok?"

"Thanks Old Man," exclaimed Naruto loudly grinning from ear to ear. Naruto would of course have preferred to have had the money but who would trust a six year old to handle his own finances.

"There are clothes in your room Naruto, Why don't you wash up while I go and do some work and I'll come back in an hour or so to take you out for dinner?" asked the Hokage.

"Great!" exclaimed Naruto as he dashed off to his room.

The smile fell from the old man's face as he turned to the door and ordered his Anbu to assemble in his office. 'A watch will need to be organised,' mused the Hokage, "he cannot be allowed to fall off the radar again. Anything could have happened to the boy." And with that he and his escort shushin'd away.

Meanwhile Naruto at that moment was lost in nostalgia. 'Wow I haven't seen this for a few years,' thought Naruto fondly as he ran his hand gently over the end of his bed. 'Not since the complex was destroyed in the Pein attack.'

Naruto's apartment building was located on the edge of the academy complex, built as emergency housing for homeless ninja. His apartment was on the top floor of the apartment building furthest from the stairs. Making it easy for the Anbu team assigned to guard him to do so.

The apartment itself was small, being comprised of a combined living area and kitchenette, a small bathroom and one bedroom. It was sparsely furnished, but quite comfortable.

The front door opened onto a long room, approximately four metres by eight metres, with two windows flanking the door and two doors on the opposite wall leading to the bedroom and bathroom. To the right was the sitting area, it had a two seater brown couch pushed up against the wall with a side table at each end and a red fire symbol wall hanging above it. In front of the couch was a round beige rug with green trimming and a large green leaf symbol in the centre and against the back wall was two large bookcases on either side of the bedroom door.

To the left of the front door was Naruto's kitchen comprising of a sink under the window with a cupboard underneath, a small worktop with two more cupboards underneath and two upper cupboards above it, a small gas range, a small refrigerator by the door to the bathroom and a rubbish bin just by the front door. In the middle of the space was a small four seater table and chairs.

His bedroom was even more sparsely furnished with only a single bed, a side table, small wardrobe and a chest of draws at which Naruto now stood. "Ah I remember this!" he exclaimed happily as he pulled out a white t-shirt with the fire symbol on the front and a pair of orange cargo shorts. "This was my uniform for the first few years of the academy before I outgrew it and needed to buy my own outfits. Too bad I'll only be able to buy that bright orange jumpsuit though. I would really like to get something in black and orange like Ero-sannin got for me if I could." Naruto said wistfully to himself as he moved toward the bathroom to wash up.

It may not be the most fancy of places but the apartment was now home once again and with a more stable base of operations Naruto was now free to focus fully on his training to get stronger. His immediate goal was to build up his body strength in preparation for the chakra influx he will experience on his eighth birthday when the Kyubbi would begin to awaken.

He hoped that by improving his mind and body he could more easily balance out the sudden surge in chakra levels that had messed him up so much the first time, resulting in his poor grades at the academy and his birth as Konoha's prankster king. Chakra being the combination of physical and spiritual power it stood to reason that by strengthening his mind and body he would achieve balance and control of his chakra. Or at least that's what he hoped.

He also needed to work on his muscle memory, Naruto knew intellectually how to do many things but he would need to train his body if he wanted to do them instinctively as he had before. Which meant hours of repetitive training not only for his Taijustu, but also for such things as hand writing, senses training, such as sight and hearing, and hand seals.

To accurately create and control any jutsu, a ninja needed both chakra control and the hand seals that directed the jutsu, clumsy hand movements could result in a weak technique or even failure of execution. Now that he had a relatively private space away from prying eyes Naruto could start work on training this essential fine-motor skill.

After a quick wash, Naruto dressed himself and decided to check what he had available in his new apartment. Kakashi-sensei had always emphasised the need to inventory available resources when entering any new situation.

His bedroom contained one bed with a pillow, sheets and two blankets, with a further spare blanket in the wardrobe as well as a couple of towels and a small grey jacket. In the chest of draws on the wall facing the bed he found four more white t-shirts and four pairs of orange cargo shorts in addition to what he now wore as well as enough underwear to last a week. By the bedroom door he found a pair of child-sized, blue ninja sandals.

In the bathroom he had five packets of soap and two bottles of shampoo, two tubes of toothpaste, a toothbrush and one hair brush in the cupboard beneath the sink as well as a small first aid kit. "Well at least I have enough toiletries to last a while at least," he said to himself.

The bookcase nearest the couch was empty waiting for Naruto to fill it with training scrolls and academy books, but the bookcase between the two doors was half filled with scrolls and books. At head height Naruto fond a set of maths, reading and writing primers as well as a beginner's cookbook and a scroll detailing basic home maintenance such as cleaning techniques and reminders to turn of taps and lights before leaving the apartment. 'To bad I couldn't use these last time, they would have been handy.' On two shelves below the books, Naruto found reams of paper, blank scrolls, a box of pencils and a beginner's calligraphy set.

In the kitchen Naruto found some basic cleaning products and a bucket below the sink as well as a step stool so that he could reach the taps. The next cupboard contained set of four plates, bowls and cups and in the draw above Naruto found four sets of chopsticks, four spoons and a set of cooking utensils. In the last lower cupboard he found a small kettle, a wok and three cooking pots of various sizes, of which only the kettle had been used in his previous life.

Naruto then dragged over a chair so that he could reach the upper cabinets. The top shelf of the first cabinet was packed solid with ration bars of various flavours and the lower shelf with various varieties of cereal. Naruto let out a loud whoop as he opened the second cabinet to find it chock full of instant ramen cups, premium brand.

'I haven't had some of those flavours for a while,' thought Naruto as he hopped down, 'but I wish there was a little more variety like maybe some rice or canned foods. Oh well, I'll just have to collect my own food from the forest.'

Whilst true that Naruto's early diet consisted almost entirely of ramen, leading to his severe lack of growth the first time around, and though he did in fact love ramen, instant ramen he could take or leave. It was not till Naruto's travels with Jiraiya that he was able to sample the many other foods on offer and obtain the nutrients that his starving body craved, leading to his late growth spurt that surprised so many on his return.

For much of his childhood instant ramen was his only option as his inability to cook his options and as it was the only thing sold to him, albeit at an inflated price, that was guaranteed not to be spoilt or just past it's use-by date.

Last but not least Naruto moved to examine the contents of his small fridge and was pleasantly surprised to see it contained not only milk but also bottled juice, meat and a selection of fresh vegetables. 'Of course,' thought Naruto, 'whoever stoked the apartment mustn't have known it was for me. Well at least I have something decent to eat for the next few days.'

Naruto looked at the time on the clock above the stove and saw that he still had half an hour or so till the Hokage was due back. He walked over to the bookcase and grabbed a pencil from the box and a couple of pieces of paper and sat down at the table to practice his hand writing while he waited for the Hokage to arrive.

'Once I get control enough to write properly I can move on to brush work and hand sign practice,' he thought with a sigh, 'one step at a time I suppose, at least I'm learning patience at last.' He chuckled to himself as he finished one page and moved onto the next.

…

When the Hokage arrived a little while later to pick up Naruto he smiled proudly to see him so industrious. "So Naruto, what would you like to have for dinner?"

"Ramen!" cried Naruto excitedly as he jumped up from the table and hurried over to the Hokage's side.

"Ramen it is." Chuckled the Hokage as the two made their way out the door.

A short while later found the two seated side by side at the Ichiraku Ramen stand's counter. Both inhaled happily as two bowls of the rich, steaming, noodlely broth was placed before them.

"So Naruto," started Sandaime after a moment of silent eating, "How do you like your new home?"

"It's great Old Man, thank you so much." Exclaimed Naruto happily.

"You are most welcome Naruto. Is there anything else you can think of that you would like?" asked the kindly old man.

"Well," started Naruto hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"I would like it very much to be a ninja please Old Man." Said Naruto in a rush.

"Do you know what that would mean?" asked the Hokage gravely, somewhat taken aback.

"Hai, it means I would become stronger and able to protect everyone." Exclaimed Naruto excitedly waving his hands in the air.

"Everyone means even those that dislike you, Naruto," clarified the Hokage gently.

The smile fell from Naruto's face as a look of sadness overcame his young features. "They don't mean too Old Man," said Naruto gently, "They are only sad and frightened. If I protect them and their precious people they won't have to be sad or frightened ever again and then I'll be able to free them from their hate, believe it."

'Oh my,' thought the Hokage, "Very well Naruto I will allow you to become a ninja. But remember it is a great responsibility and so you must work very hard."

"Hai, Old Man, thank you." Cried Naruto as he launched himself forward and hugged the Hokage exuberantly.

"Your parents would have been so very proud of you Naruto," the Hokage chuckled as he ruffled the young boy's hair affectionately.

"You knew my parents?" asked Naruto innocently.

"Indeed I did. But before you ask, I'm sorry but I can't tell you who they were until you are older but know that they were great people and loved you very much. In fact I thought of your father as almost a son." Explained the Hokage.

"Then may I call you jiji, Old Man?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know," mused the Sandaime out loud, only to be hit with Naruto's most debilitating attack as a child the **puppy-dog-eyes no jutsu**.

"Please," begged the six year old child holding his hands up under his chin and smiling whim singly.

"All right," laughed the Hokage raising his hands in surrender, "But only if you call me Hokage in front of others. After all I am the leader of the village and my young ninja's need to show me respect." He continued half-jokingly.

"Hai jiji," Naruto cried snapping off a half creditable salute.

Chuckling again the Hokage marvelled at the precociousness of the young boy. "Come now, we must return you to your apartment. It is time for all good shinobi to be in their beds." Said the Hokage as he laid a hand on Naruto's small shoulder. Then the two turned as one and exited the ramen stand.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: hi all, Sorry for the late update, again. I came down with chronic gastro so missed the last update. I've recovered now so all good. Ten cookie points to whoever guesses my day job from this chapter. **** By the way 'Baka' is Japanese for idiot, and is also my favourite Japanese word.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.

'_thinking_'

"speaking"

_jutsu_

**demon speak**

Chapter 5.

…

The next morning found Naruto awakening, as usual, with the sun. Stretching languidly, he squirmed on his sheets enjoying the sensation of wakening in a bed. Getting up, Naruto made his way to the bathroom to complete his morning absolutions, before making his way to the mat on his living room floor to complete his morning exercises.

After completing fifty repeats each of sit-ups, push ups and legs raises Naruto ran through the stretches designed to improve flexibility before finishing up by siting in the lotus position to begin his morning meditation. Feeling refreshed Naruto moved into his kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal which he ate standing up at the sink.

When he was finished he moved to his bedroom to remove his sleep pants and dress himself in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for the day. He put on his ninja sandals, grabbed the bucket from under the sink and headed out the door after grabbing his keys.

Stretching in the morning sun he thought to himself, '_Right, first up I need to gather supplies from the forest before it's all gone in a couple of weeks' time. Nuts should last for a while and I can dry any berries I find in my stove to keep. Then I'll need to gather some Intel on how best to train a young body. It's been a while and the details are a little fuzzy_.'

Naruto had only really received effective training in his later years, his early training being mostly self-taught through observing the training of older students and had consisted of much trial and error and so was not as effective as it could have been. A fact that Jiraiya had bemoaned at length.

Quickly making his way across the village, once again utilising alleyways and shadows, Naruto made his way to the training fields by the west gate. To aid in all day training, edible plants had been encouraged to grow around the outskirts of each training ground, an innovation of the first Hokage.

It was these that Naruto was aiming for as they provided an easy source of berries and nuts without the need to venture into the surrounding forest which may raise suspicions. Naruto quickly found what he was looking for and got to work filling his bucket.

Once filled, Naruto once more made his way across the village to his new home. He separated out his harvest, placing the berries on a couple of cooking sheets he found in his cupboard and put them in the oven on its lowest setting. Carrying the bucket with his nut collection into his bedroom, Naruto opened the lowest draw in his dresser and placed them inside after first checking each nut for spoilage and uninvited quests of the insect variety.

'_Right_,' thought Naruto checking the berries, '_They should be right for at least four hours. Now for some research._'

Naruto smiled mischievously to himself as he posed in the centre of his living room floor. Spreading his feet he placed one hand on his hip and raised the other in the air pointing dramatically out the door. Then he called out in a carrying and overly dramatic voice, "To the Library!"

…

The Great Konoha Library was conveniently situated a couple of blocks from Naruto's apartment, between the Hokage's Tower and the Ninja Academy. It was a squat three story building housing the civilian/academy collection on the ground floor with the Chunin collection on the second and the Jonin collection on the third. Each level was separated by security seals only accessible by the clearance given with a ninja's promotion through the ranks.

Unbeknownst to most of the village, beneath the main library was another four levels of archives and other ultra-secure collections including the Anbu and medical ninja records for the village. As such, though it was a public building, the library was one of the most secure buildings in the village.

In his previous life Naruto had never had occasion to enter the library as his below average literacy skills as a child prohibited him from even thinking of doing so. It may have surprised those that knew him then that the library was the first place he thought of now that he needed to do some research on training techniques.

During the three years Naruto had spent with Jiraiya, Naruto had rather surprisingly, especially to himself, become a voracious reader after Jiraiya had managed to correct his reading problems. After his rather embarrassingly meagre literacy levels were corrected, Naruto literally devoured any books he could get his hands on.

Like many lonely people, Naruto found an escape through books and very quickly became a connoisseur of the well-crafted tale, as was made evident in his dismissal of Jiraiya's trashy novels as 'boring' much to the old man's chagrin. But the main thing that Naruto loved about books was that they taught him things.

Books, without prejudice, gave the same information to everyone. They were never too busy to provide answers and were always available no matter how late at night or how early in the morning. Books provided what the knowledge seeking teen needed, opportunities to learn.

To learn about new techniques, new places and new people. It didn't matter what it was about, Naruto was always interested.

After a lifetime of not being able to have his questions answered or having his fundamental misunderstanding of the basics ignored by so-called educators, books became a lifeline of knowledge to the teenage shinobi.

However, on his return to the village Naruto had found his time taken up with physical training and missions, leaving no time for reading and as such no chance to visit the village library. So it was with some trepidation that he now entered through the front doors.

Keeping to the shadows Naruto snuck past the front desk and headed toward the section on the far right that was labelled as the Academy Collection. Quickly concealing himself behind the first shelving unit, he started to scan the book titles.

'_Hmmm, Chakra: what is it and how it works, Balance in Mind and Body, Ah this should do, Chakra Control: Exercises for the Beginner. Now for muscle building. That looks like it on the next shelf over_.'

Naruto looked around quickly before stealthily moving across the aisle to the next shelf. After gathering a few likely candidates, he made his way to the back if the shelving to where study corals lined the back wall. Choosing the coral furthest from the shelves, Naruto set down his pile of books and began to read.

He jumped and peered over his book warily as he heard a voice say, "Here you might like to try this one as well. The author is a little insane but no one can dispute that his training methods don't produce miraculous results."

Naruto hesitantly reached out and took the offered book from the hand of the smiling middle-aged woman standing in front of him. "Hello I'm the head librarian here, Chishiki Nara. If you need anything feel free to come and ask me, it's my job to help find information after all," still smiling gently Chishiki turned to leave.

"Wait," called Naruto, "its okay for me to be here?"

"Of course!" exclaimed the woman, "Why ever would you not be? Now if you'll excuse me I need to go and help someone else. Good luck with your studies."

"Thank you," said Naruto as tears came to his eyes, which he quickly wiped away on his sleeve. He had not expected to find another place of acceptance other than the Hokage's office this early in his life.

If only Naruto had known in his first lifetime about the library. The Librarians of Konoha being voracious readers themselves were predisposed to looking underneath the underneath and as such were the least likely to mistake the scroll for the kunai. Added to this the head Librarian, in her role as research assistant, had worked personally with the fourth Hokage as so had every faith in his sealing ability. With this Naruto's acceptance at the village library, should he have ever graced its walls, was firmly cemented.

Naruto looked inquiringly down at the book Chishiki had given him. '_Ha! Flaming the Fires of the Youthfully Young: How to be a Most Splendid Youth by Maito Gai. Hehe, Old Bushy Brows sensei actually wrote a book, this should be good._'

He cracked open the book and began to read. A few moments later the quiet of the library was broken by the sound of Naruto repeatedly banging his head against the desk as he chanted, "Baka, Baka, Baka, Baka!"

According to the book the exercises that Naruto had used to train during his early years, some of which were given to him by instructors at the Academy, were so unsuited to a young developing body as to be detrimental to its development. The high stress, weight heavy exercises, whilst perfectly fine for muscle development during the teen years, only caused muscle trauma in the very young.

What he needed was an exercise program focusing on low impact exercises such as stretching and resistance training. Thank goodness he had held out on an intensive training program until his housing situation was settled so he didn't have any damage that he would need to overcome before he could start training properly.

According to Gai-sensei, the use of weights was only profitable when the body's muscles and joints had developed past a certain point, usually in the tenth year of life. Before this, training using elastic material to create resistance and promote muscle growth would produce the best results.

'_I don't have any money for the elastic training bands like the book suggests,_' thought Naruto dejectedly before he slapped his forehead in exasperation, "Of course, rubber bands!"

For a prankster of Naruto's reputation, rubber bands were a staple pranking resource as they created just the right amount of tension to release a throwing arm when a wire was tripped.

'_The bins behind the Academy always had a great supply of rubber bands and the bins behind the Hokage Tower had a great supply as well._' thought Naruto happily.

He quickly flipped through the other books selecting those best suited to his needs including a book on nutrition and jutsu theory, and then made his way to the front desk so he could check them out. Naruto then made his way over the Academy to check out their bins.

'_I should try and research as much as I can. May be now with my experience as an actual ninja I'll be able to understand all that theory that Iruka-sensei said was so important._'


	7. Bonus Chaplette

**AN: hi all, as an apology for missing an update and as a celebration for achieving over 100 follows (thanks by the way, I was soooo excited) I bring you the bonus Chaplette. This was based on the episode where Naruto uses his ingenuity to complete his Rasengan training. Enjoy! **

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.

'_thinking_'

"speaking"

_jutsu_

**demon speak**

Bonus Chaplette

…

That evening found Naruto lying on his back on his living room floor with his feet resting on the wall, staring up at the ceiling with tears of frustration in his eyes. He was panting slightly from the past three hours of exertion in which he had tried and failed to move more than two steps up the wall.

After over a year of practicing the leaf exercise daily he had mastered it to such an extent that he could maintain numerous leaves on various parts of his body simultaneously whilst moving them in complex shapes about his body through the use of his chakra alone.

During the month he had spent out in the training grounds he had even used small river pebble and rocks in an attempt to make the exercise more challenging, but knew that he would need to move on to the next chakra exercise to improve his control as he could feel the benefits of the leaf exercise plateau.

As such Naruto had spent the last three hours trying to attempt the tree walking exercise with little results. Naruto had opted to practice the technique in the privacy of his own living room to avoid any suspicion from anyone that may have seen his practice and asked questions on who taught him.

Taking a running start he could get two steps up the wall only to fail the same way over and over again as his knees would collapse under the weight of his body causing his back to fall towards the wall and his head to slam into the floor.

After his first failed attempt, Naruto had padded his landing area with the cushions from his couch so he remained relatively uninjured after his many failed attempts but this did little to alleviate his frustration.

Apparently there was a reason that the tree walking exercise was taught only to genin. Not only did they need to have a large enough chakra reserve to sustain the technique, which was not a problem for Naruto, but they also needed the necessary muscle and core strength to hold themselves horizontal whilst walking up a vertical surface, which Naruto did not have.

"Damn it!" cursed Naruto as he slammed his fist on the floor beside himself. "What am I going to do now?" he huffed as he blew his fringe out of his eyes.

"Tek, tek, tek"

Looking up Naruto spied a small brown gecko sitting on the wall above his head near the ceiling, "What are you looking at?"

Absentmindedly Naruto tensed and untensed his legs one at a time as he pulled against the resistance caused by the chakra sticking his feet to the wall. He watched as the small reptile moved slowly across the wall above him.

A slow, fox-like grin stretched its way across his face.

Standing up Naruto stretched one hand above his head, channelling chakra to his palm and placed it on the all. Raising his other had he did the same thing, placing this hand on the wall on the other side of his body a little lower than first.

Raising his opposite leg he channelled chakra to his toes and placed his foot against the wall and stepped up like he was climbing a cliff or a ladder, till his other foot was hanging off the ground. Channelling chakra to his other foot he placed this too on the wall.

Slowly releasing and reattaching each limb one at a time, Naruto made his way half way up the wall before he lost control and slid back down to land on his cushions. Jumping up Naruto yelled out in exultation.

"Yosh!" he yelled as he danced around in a circle on the mat in the middle of his living room floor. This he could work with.


End file.
